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*Coyotes GM Don Maloney is in Pittsburgh for tonight’s Penguins – Flyers game. Maloney being in town marks the second time this week he will be scouting a Penguins game.

*The Penguins are still looking to add, chasing a depth forward and left handed top-4 defenseman. The team is monitoring Ron Hainsey’s situation in Winnipeg and have a few other targets they are monitoring.

*One thing to watch for the Penguins is a roster move in the next 48-72 hours. With Evgeni Malkin very close to coming off injured reserve and when he does the Penguins will have 14 forwards with the addition of Brenden Morrow. The team can’t carry 14 forwards and 8 defensemen. Someone has to go and a few players on the roster might not be around by April 3rd.

Players on the hot seat include Robert Bortuzzo, Dustin Jeffrey, Tyler Kennedy and Tanner Glass. There’s been some Bortuzzo trade chatter this week but losing him could be problematic to their depth if they are unable to add another defenseman.

The Penguins want eight quality defensemen going into the playoffs. Due to concerns of tendering Tyler Kennedy a contract of $2.1 million this summer, the Penguins have been open to moving Tyler Kennedy but only if they found an upgrade. We’ll see where that goes with Morrow acquired.

Trade Buzz: Thursday’s 1-for-1 trade of young underperforming players saw the Minnesota Wild acquire center Victor Rask from the Carolina Hurricanes for left winger Nino Niederreiter. Carolina did an excellent job of being able to get out of the Rask contract, who has three years remaining with a $4 million cap hit. Rask has 1 goal, 5 assists on the season, mirrored in a 22-game goal drought. The logic here for Minnesota is taking the chance on a playmaking center who can help fill a top-9 spot longer term if the Wild move on from Eric Staal. Minnesota is also playing the card that a change of scenery will benefit the 24-year old who posted a career-high 21 goals, 48 points in 2015-2016.

Niederreiter’s trade value was stunted because of his contract, where he has three years left on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit. Niederreiter is a player who is extremely hard to play against, drives possession well, and has three 20 goal seasons over his last four full seasons. Injuries (18 goals in 63 games) kept him from a 4th straight 20-goal season in 17-18. The Niederreiter acquisition also sets up as great insurance for the Hurricanes if they can’t resign Micheal Ferland. In the short-term, Carolina’s center situation is a mess with Jordan Staal sidelined with a concussion, but they’re getting the better player who fits the identity they’re trying to establish upfront, especially on the wings where they’ve identified the need for Patric Hornqvist type players.